Archers StoryDemonglass
by Akina11
Summary: Archers feelings through Demonglass. Please read and review, all comments welcome. ps i do not own any characters of the hex hall series.
1. Chapter 1

The Story of Archer Cross - Demonglass

Chapter 1

Sophie, Sophie, Sophie. Sigh, even during these jobs, especially during this job, I remember her even more. Oddly enough, some nights, I stay awake thinking about her. There was always something about her. From the "Bad dog" moment till that last night of cellar duty, I was drawn towards her and I guess that's why when she kissed me, I hesitated. I was afraid of how bad I wanted her. She can never know that though. No one can ever know that.

"Cross!" someone in the distance called out, "Finish this off and let's leave now."

The Council headquarters. That was today's job, attack the Council and burn down the building. What really sparked this was that demon problem that was recently uncovered. Someone was raising demons and that was sparking a whole new war and the council had no idea of it yet or at least that's what we think. Seven of the council members had died in the fire, her father luckily survived. The new guy, Raphael, only fourteen and so eager to be apart of this world, called out to me to get going now, our time here was up.

I got up from my spot on the floor and walked towards the others, getting into the car so we could go back to our own headquarters where I could go back to my room and think why I was still so confused about Sophie.

I was just about to leave to my room when someone called out to me. It was our head, Antonio, he decided the assignments here in London, and he was in charge here in the leader La Reina's place.

"Cross, I'd like a word with you."

I walked up to where he was sitting at the head of one of the many tables. The Eye was using an old restaurant of one of the members as London headquarters. Thankfully, it had been closed for a while so no people paid it any attention or came to inspect any activity as yet. The Eye covered their tracks well though, we are discreet and sneaky and no one ever notices us unless we want them to.

"Yes Antonio? How can I help you?"

He gestured for the others to leave so he could speak to me alone.

"Archer, have you been distracted lately? Your work is exceptional as always but still I have a feeling you are keeping something from us or that you are different ever since you came back from Hecate Hall. Is something the matter?"

He had a concerned look on his face, but I knew it was fake concern. I was a warlock and he detested that but because of my history he had no choice but to accept me and he would never go against La Reina.

"No Antonio, everything is fine, I don't see why you would feel that way. After all I do most of the work whenever we go out, the leader of the major mission. It is a tiring job though and I have been working non-stop. Maybe that is what you are seeing, nothing more than tiredness." I was lying but although Antonio is the head, he isn't very skilled at detecting lies plus they all are under the impression I could hurt them very badly if I wanted to so they left me be and kept out of my business most of the time.

"Is that all? You are not alone here Archer, I know Simon's passing was hard on you, we are L'Occhio di Dio but even we have hearts and it affected us all."

"I'm fine thank you; you need not worry about me. I am not so weak that I cannot handle this grief on my own. May I be excused now?"

"You can go." He waved his hand dismissively and I left to my room, heart sinking even more as I did.

Simon Cross was the warlock who had cared for me as a child, taught me everything I knew, was the man I thought truly cared for me, but he was killed in an encounter about a month ago. It would have been easier to deal with had it not been the fact that it was one of our own who had killed him. In a blind rage, Diego, Antonio's hench man had attacked him from the back not realizing who it was. I wasn't there that day, so they had tried to tell me that it was a Prodigium who had done it, Raphael however had told me the truth. It was either an attempt by them to make me hate Prodigium or to cover up their own tracks, either way I let it slip. It made no difference to me because I owed the Eye for many things, things which are not easily repaid. My thoughts drifted to her again as I lay down to rest, wondering what was in store for us.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next few weeks passed without any incidents. I spent most of my time up in my room with nothing to do but try and figure out what was going on with me. Every since my time with Sophie I felt different, felt feelings that were foreign to me. As soon as that realization hit, I knew I was heading down a dangerous path and that's when I knew that Sophia Mercer had to remain an assignment.

Of course that all changed when I went down and heard my next assignment. We got a message that the head of council's daughter was to be at a Prodigium club, Shelley's and since I am the only one who can recognize her, I had to go along and find her.

I was quite ready for it but something about the thought of Sophie at the hands of Antonio sent a chill down my spine. I knew what they were capable of, knew they would take particular interest in killing her in the most gruesome way and I also knew that I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let Sophie die. I took a gold coin I had gotten from Hex Hall and kept it in my pocket. If I met her, I would give it to her and try to explain everything later on but for now I had to save her life.

Shelley's, only visible to Prodigium was its usual hive of activity when we entered but when they realized who was in the club, the screams of terror began. I didn't indulge in the killing which had begun to take place, searching instead for Sophie. I saw in a distant corner booth with the two other demons and Jenna. They turned when they realized what was happening and tried to get to the back through an opening one of them had made. I moved towards them, next thing I knew there were bodies being slammed into walls and she was out the door. I followed and managed to get out before she sent the spell I could see building at the members still in the club. I followed silently for a while, until Jenna and the others were ahead before reaching around her waist and grabbing her and pulling her out of the light.

It was strange being so close to her after so long. We had spent many of Vandy's defense classes being close like this and every time my touch on her seemed to make my skin tingle. Until she tried to use skill nine on me that is. I ducked easily out of the way of her elbow, lifting her up at the same time so her heel didn't land on my foot. I figured she would try for skill fifteen next and that's when I pulled her in close and said: "Don't even think about it, Mercer."

Her silence was almost unbearable as I tried to figure out what she was thinking, I released her and she turned around to face me. One look into her eyes and I knew I was in trouble, she looked so beautiful in the light I could see and I struggled to compose myself. She looked like she was taking in every thing of my appearance and I did the same to her. Then I realized she could vaporize me and I quickly grabbed her wrists and pushed her against the wall. She brought her knee up but I dodged that too and then I spoke to her.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I muttered through clenched teeth. "But I can't say the same for the others."

She stopped struggling for a moment. Then I heard Raphael call out to me in Italian, asking me if it was her. I glanced over my shoulder and angled my body so she was hidden from view. "It's not her," I called back. "Just a human girl, wrong place, wrong time." He rattled off a string of words in Italian saying that I was wasting time. I swore under my breath and told him to let me sort this out first.

I dropped her wrists and braced my arms on the damp brick wall behind her, she held her body stiff and I tried to do the same. We were both trying our best not to touch.

I sighed. "That makes what? The second time I've saved your life? Third, if you count that thing in Defense with the Vandy. Speaking of which, you're still thrusting your elbow too high on Skill Nine."

"I'll work on that." She replied still trying not to get so close to me, not knowing that I really wanted her to.

I could see her studying me, wondering if I would move away but I couldn't, I needed to spend a few more minutes close to her, making sure she didn't go out now so she was safe and so that I could have her close to me.

"So did The Eye come here tonight looking for me?" she finally asked.

"Actually, we came because we heard it was free corn dog night. Imagine our disappointment."

She jerked her head to look at me. We were already so close that turning to face me meant our noses were about an inch apart. Then and there I could have kissed her again and forgotten everything, but I had a part to play. In her world and mine.

She pulled her neck back and I wondered if she was feeling the same impulse. "The last time we saw each other, you pulled a knife on me. So if you could spare

me the banter, that'd be great."

The last time we had kissed also and I glanced at her lips, not daring to bring it up. "Fine. Yes, we're here looking for you. What are you doing here anyway?"

She blinked at me. "Me? The Council wants to kill _you _on sight," she hissed. "And where are you hiding out? In their freaking backyard."

"I'm not hiding out. London is where I was assigned. And you didn't answer my question."

She pulled back from me so we were no longer so close and said "I'm here with my dad."

I quirked an eyebrow and saw recognition flash in her eyes for a second, "Demon family reunion?"

Just then Raphael came and chattered in Italian again. I quickly replied and then he reached into my pocket. She seemed to tense up even more.

"Relax," I murmured as I pulled out the dull gold coin. "That was Raphael. In addition to being one of the youngest Eyes, he's also the one of the stupidest. He asked what was taking so long, and I told him I was wiping your mind before I sent you on your way."

"You can do that?"

I flashed a brief grin. "No, but he doesn't know that. That's why he's staying so far back. Scared of catching Prodigium germs." I said it lightly, but there was bitterness behind the words and I'm certain she heard it.

I pressed the coin into her hand. "Are you staying in London?"

"No, Thorne Abbey. It's—"

"I'll find you," I said, closing my fingers over the coin. "Just keep that on you."

"No," she said, grabbing at the sleeve of my jacket. "Archer, the Council is at Thorne. Not to mention my dad, who put an execution order out on you."

"There's a lot we need to talk about, Mercer," I said, glancing back toward the other end of the alley. "I'll risk it."

"Keep out of the light and get out of here," I murmured. "And Mercer, from now

on, stay out of Prodigium clubs, okay? These people aren't your friends."

"What do you mean?" She made one more grab for my sleeve, but I ran back to Raphael and Shelley's.

I reached Raphael and joking said she was quite a pretty girl and laughed but he kept looking back. Finally we heard a blast and saw blue light and raced back to Shelley's.

All the while I was thanking God or whoever was out there in the universe that Sophie was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The disappointment of not finding and killing the head of council's daughter had hung heavy the night before. No one had really spoken once we had gotten back from Shelley's which was good for me because Raphael didn't get a chance to talk about the girl in the alley in front of everyone. After a tiring night, everyone who went on the mission had slept in late. When I finally woke and went down, Antonio was pacing around. Apparently someone had informed James Atherton about what had happened at Shelley's but he seemed in no hurry to avenge it, which Antonio found very strange. No one spoke much to me so I was left to wonder about how to meet Sophie tonight. I had already given her the coin now I would just have to hope she came. I planned to tell her the whole story tonight. I needed her help after all, there was a lot I needed her for.

Later that evening I went to the abandoned corn mill. The gold coin I had given Sophie was a Saint Anthony's medallion. It had the magic which allowed me to reach her. So I used it, showing her I was waiting for her. I waited till past midnight, getting more anxious by the minute, but she didn't come. With a sinking feeling I took one last look at the door and walked away. She wouldn't come.

I went straight to bed when I went back. No one was up and even if they were it wouldn't be strange to see me about at this time. I had spent many nights awake since coming back from Hex Hall. My mind wandered back to Sophie, wondering why she hadn't come and suddenly there was an ache inside me, I ached with longing for her. This was beginning to get very difficult I thought as I lay on my bed but unable to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

There was no news from anyone in the next two days. Our people of course had attacked another group of Prodigium, I was not involved with this one but we got the news none the less. We also got the news that Mr. Atherton was throwing a grand birthday party for his daughter at Thorne Abbey. As I heard that I knew this was my chance to talk to Sophie again. It wasn't just that I wanted to see her and clear things up. I also needed her help.

Dressed as a waiter I was able to enter the party. It was a masquerade bash so I had a mask to hide my identity. I had found her three times but she never noticed me. I saw her with the two new demons and tried to go to her again but she pulled away. At last when she was alone again I went to her.

"Drink, miss?" I asked, holding out the tray.

"Look, dude," she said, stumbling a little as she stepped on one of her draping sleeves, "I don't know if you're trying to suck up or what, but—"

At that moment she glanced up into my masked face, and our eyes met.

"You have got to be kidding me."

I raised an eyebrow even though she couldn't see it but I somehow knew she thought I really was doing it. "Who are you supposed to be?" I asked in a low voice.

She drew in deep breathes, trying to calm herself I guessed. "Hecate," she said, plucking one of the glasses off my tray. "What are you doing here?"

I shrugged "Who doesn't love a party? Plus, I thought there might be a chance

you'd wear that blue dress again." I was flirting a little, it was easy to do that with her and forget about every thing else.

"You are a crazy person," she said, struggling to keep her voice calm. "Or an idiot. Or a crazy idiot person. Why aren't you at least glamoured or something?"

"No one here has ever seen me in person," I replied, making a show of rearranging the glasses on my tray, "so the mask is good enough. If I'd used glamour, I just would've drawn attention to myself. Of course, I wouldn't have had to go to all this trouble if you'd just met me three weeks ago."

Anger flashed in my eyes and I knew she saw it for she somewhat guiltily looked down.

"I couldn't," she said, looking up and smiling like I'd just said something funny. "You should leave. Now."

I was pissed now and couldn't hide it. "Do you have any idea what I risked to come here tonight?" I hissed. "Not only from your people, but mine?"

She glanced around, then gave me a significant look and walked towards the corner with a huge arrangement of potted plants.

I waited a few seconds and then followed, parted the palm frond and leaned against the glass wall, my arms folded over my chest. "Why didn't you meet me?" I asked without preamble.

"I don't know, maybe because you're a demon hunter and I'm a demon, so us hanging out seems like a bad idea?" I didn't reply and she sighed and said, "Look, basically, everyone in my life has told me to stay away from you. So that's what I'm doing."

I felt my heart ache a little but I had to keep up that I didn't feel anything. "Trust me," he said. "If there weren't something major going down right now, I'd never see you again. Happily."

"What do you mean, 'something major'?"

I shook my head. "I don't have time to get into it, but it's about your little demon buddies back there. Can you meet me tomorrow night at the mill?"

"I can't tomorrow. But my dad leaves for a business trip in nine days. It would be easier for me to get away then."

I nodded. "Good. Nine days, then. Three a.m."

"Fine. But if you pull a knife on me again—"

I laughed. "You keep bringing that up. First of all, I didn't pull the knife on _you_; I pulled it out so I could jimmy the lock on that window. Secondly, I was trapped in a cellar with a pissed-off demon. Of the two of us, who do you think was the most freaked out?" I moved past her quickly and disappeared into the crowd.

I decided to stay little longer at the party, just to see her a little longer even if I couldn't talk to her. Nine days is a long wait after all. I saw her with the Hex Hall grounds keeper, Cal, and seeing that made me somewhat jealous. I sighed and wished things were not so complicated between us and that's when disaster struck.

She had just opened one of her presents and disappeared behind a puff of smoke. It was demon glass which had pierced into her. I moved towards her, worried about what had happened to her but then I remembered who I am and that I should not be here and so although I was close to her I panicked and tried to head out and prayed with all my heart that she knew I wasn't responsible for it.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Eye had naturally heard of the attack on Sophie. The reactions were somewhat mixed as they were confused as to who could have done this and placed the blame on us. The word was that I had done it but no one here believed that because they all thought I had been out trying to figure something out with regards to the new demons so I was safe from my side at least, then again when was I ever safe from their side.

I felt bitter about attacking my own kind but at the same time, The Eye had raised me, I owed my life to them. The next nine days seemed to pass slowly or maybe I was just eager to see Sophie. The attacks were continuing, this time in Yorkshire but I was preoccupied so I was not asked to contribute in any way and my base was London although we were sometimes called to help. I was anxious about the trip, a part of me wasn't sure she would show up but at three a.m. approached I got ready to leave. I grabbed my sword, a thin golden chain and left. I didn't need to tell anyone were I went when I left, they always thought it was for some official work. I arrived at the corn mill ten minutes earlier, still feeling anxious; I waited with my head down.

"Is that really necessary?"I heard her voice and looked up feeling strangely relieved. She was truly beautiful to me, I always wanted to pull her into my arms when I saw her but that was risky now, I had a role to play. I turned back to the Itineris, crouching down to pull out the gold chain from my duffel bag.

"Never hurts to be prepared," I said.

"It just seems like overkill when you already have a dagger and I have superpowerful magic at my disposal."

"'Superpowerful? Let me remind you of two words, Mercer: _Bad. Dog._"

She rolled her eyes. "That was nearly a year ago. I'm way better now."

"Yeah, well, I'm not taking any chances," I said. I put the sword into the holster on my back and looked at her. "Besides," I added, "I thought you might not come. After what happened the other night…"I paused, studying her, feeling worried. "Are you all right?"

"I will be when people stop asking me that."

"You know I had nothing to do with that, right?"

"Yeah," she replied. "And if you did have something to do with it, I will vaporize you where you stand."

I smiled slightly, "Good to know."

I closed the distance between us, having to stand entirely too close to her and feeling slightly light headed. "What are you doing?" she asked, sounding just as breathless.

I gently placed the chain around her neck, tightening the clasp.

"This is the necklace one of the angels is wearing in the window at Hex Hall."

"It is indeed." I said, I took her hands, they felt wonderful to touch, and explained, "It's also a very powerful protection charm, which we're going to need."

She looked scared as we laced our fingers and stepped closer to the Itineris. "Why?"

"Because we're going a very long way."

She squeezed my fingers and that made me want to hold her tight but I had to resist.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Graymalkin Island," I answered. And then I yanked her into the doorway.

We were tossed into a thick copse of trees as we came out of the blackness, and Sophie immediately tripped over an exposed root and since the necklace still held us together I fell on top of her. It was surprisingly pleasant to be there but now was not the time for romance apparently. She grabbed my shoulders to push him away.

"Get off of me!" she mumbled against my collarbone, shoving at me. I rolled over onto my back but thanks to the necklace, that just pulled her half on top of me. She was unaware of the affect she was having on me and I couldn't stop myself from saying something.

"And here I thought you were playing hard to get," I whispered. I looked at her in the moonlight, she truly was beautiful, and I was sure I sounded a little out of breath.

She thwacked my chest with the palm of her hand, and then ducked her head underneath the necklace. She quickly moved away from me.

"Let me guess," she hissed, nodding at the chain. "Something else you stole from Hex Hall."

I pushed myself to my feet. "Guilty."

"Where the heck was I while you were playing Grand Theft Cellar?"

"I only took a few things, and most of those I grabbed during those last few weeks when you weren't talking to me." I saw something flash in her eyes and I knew she remembered it.

"Is that why you defended me in Vandy's class? Were you hoping to get cellar duty just so you could lift stuff?"

I shook my head as I dusted off my clothes. "Believe it or not, Mercer, I'm not quite that calculating. I stood up to Vandy because I felt like it. Getting to snag stuff out of the cellar ended up being a bonus."I turned my back on her and started walking away. "Now come on. It's a long walk."

"Why can't you just tell me what's going on?" she asked as we made our way out of the grove.

"Because I'm not sure you'd believe me. Easier to show you." We were reaching the beach now.

"Where are we? Like, in relation to the school."

"We're on the other side of the island," I replied.

"It looks so different."

I glanced over my shoulder. "That's because there's a spell on the school grounds. Jessica Prentiss did it when she built the house. Apparently she was homesick, because she made it look like her family's place in Louisiana, right down to the landscaping." I paused. "Seriously, Mercer, didn't you pay attention in any of our classes?"

"Sorry, I was a little distracted, what with all the people dying."

I stopped suddenly. "To be fair," I said, my voice light, but inside I felt my stomach drop, "only one person died. Elodie."

We were both frozen now, standing several feet apart on the little hill overlooking the sea. "So you do know about that."

I nodded. "Yeah. We, uh, got a report about everything a few months ago."Rubbing the back of my neck, I turned so I was facing the sea.

"I didn't…all of that was never real. Her and me. At least not on my part. And there were days when I thought if I had to spend one more second listening to her talk about beauty spells or shoes, I was going to go insane. Still, when I read the report…" I tried to laugh but it sounded sad and I put my head down. "It was like being punched in the gut, you know?"

"Yeah."

"It's just hard to believe that someone like her could be gone", then I shook my head and carried on walking.

"So why were you with her?"

"She was my assignment." I knew this conversation had to come and I couldn't give her the true version about her part, she couldn't know my feelings.

"From The Eye?"

"No, from the Boy Scouts. That Witch Dating badge just kept eluding me."

"Well, you must have at least three Total Douchebag badges by now, so that has to count for something. What about Holly? Was that fake, too?"

My head was down as I walked. "You know, these were all things I was willing

to tell you several weeks ago. Too bad you decided to stand me up."

She caught my elbow and I felt an explosive feeling go through me.

"How is that you can go from decent human being to complete jackass in zero-point-two seconds? Do they teach you that in The Eye?"

I stopped, feeling jittery, my eyes glided over her lips. "Actually, I'm just trying to see if I can make you mad enough to kiss me again."

She immediately dropped my arm and moved ahead of me. "I don't want to talk about that," she said as she walked quickly down the beach.

I caught up with her, but she kept looking straight ahead.

"Mercer—" I said wanting to say something, anything to make her feel better.

"Look, forget it," I said. "Just show me whatever it was you dragged me out here to see."

"Fine," I replied, my voice clipped. I was slightly annoyed at her manner.

We walked down the beach in total silence. In the moonlight, our shadows stretched out before us, almost touching. Finally we reached a small cove, and I turned right, back up the hill and into the forest again. We were only a few feet into the woods when I said, "I just thought we should talk about it. Isn't that what you were getting at?"

She turned towards me and I could practically feel the anger radiating off her.

"No, Cross, it wasn't. Okay, so we kissed for, like, three minutes. I knew you for

_months _before that. We—we were friends. I asked you all that stuff about demons, and you knew what I was. Don't you get why that might be a little upsetting?"

I didn't reply, but then, she didn't really give me a chance to. "All that time we were down there in the cellar, and I was telling you stuff—_real _stuff—about me, you were just, what? Lying? Casing the joint? Taking mental notes for your bosses? Is there any part of the Archer I knew that actually exists?"

She stared at me, breathing hard, her tantrum finally over. I had the feeling she felt the same about me but that couldn't be true, not after everything that I did to her. I didn't move, studying her then I blew out a long breath and said, "Okay. I've lived with The Eye for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was about two or three."

"What about your parents?"

I moved past her, this was not my favorite topic but I felt the need to tell her everything. "Killed, but no one knew by what. Whatever it was, it drew the attention of The Eye. They got word of a dead witch and warlock, and went to investigate. Found my parents' bodies, and then when they were searching the house, me. I guess no

one felt comfortable about killing a toddler, so the team took me back to La Reina. That's what they call the leader of L'Occhio di Dio. Well, when it's a woman, at least. She saw the potential in raising a warlock as an Eye."

"Where did all this happen?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. They never told me."

"So you don't know where you're from?"

"I don't even know what my real name is, Mercer. La Reina was the one who called me Archer, after an Eye who'd just been killed in battle. Anyway, she let me live, and gave me to a warlock she'd recruited, Simon Cross. He was the one who decided I should infiltrate Hecate, and—what are you doing?"

She stopped mobbing standing perfectly still as soon as I'd said "warlock she'd recruited."

"There are other Prodigium who work with The Eye?"

I suddenly went very still, wondering if I had said too much. "Why? You planning on telling Daddy?"

"No, the cone of silence has firmly descended over this entire night. I just…they think you're the only one. That's why they're so gung ho about killing you."

"There aren't many, but they're out there. Who do you think told us you were at Shelley's that night?"

"Keep going," she said.

I started walking again, holding a branch out of the way so she could duck under it. I felt like such a gentleman. "Simon trained me as a warlock and as an Eye, and I spent

summers in Rome with L'Occhio di Dio, learning sword fighting, attack maneuvers, that kind of thing."

"No wonder you always kicked my ass in Defense," she muttered.

"The Eye had been looking for ways to get into Hex Hall for years, but the screening process for teachers was too intense, and they didn't have any

Eyes young enough to get in as students. Until me. When I was fourteen, I turned my middle school gym invisible. Bam, instant ticket to Hecate."

"What did they want you to do there?"

"Nothing as awful as you're probably thinking. Listen, mostly. Observe and report back." I stopped and turned around. I was feeling weird, studying her then I decided to tell her. I always felt compelled to tell her. "This is weird," I said. "I've never said this stuff out loud to anyone before."

"That's because I'm using a demon compulsion spell on you."

"Seriously?" I was stunned, I knew she was good at magic but that was a whole other level!

"No, you dork. So keep going. What about Holly and Elodie?" I could feel that she wanted to ask about herself also but she didn't.

"The betrothal with Holly was all aboveboard. Simon and her father arranged it." It was part of my cover, but I liked her. She was sweet. Quiet. It's not like we had this great love or anything, and I obviously had no intention of actually marrying her, but…I don't know. It wasn't hard spending time with her. Elodie was a different story, especially

after what she did to Holly."

"So when you left Hex Hall after Holly died, that wasn't because you were the grief-stricken fiancé. You were going back to The Eye."

"Yeah. I told them that I thought Elodie and her coven had raised a demon, so we decided I should get close to her; see what was really going on."

"And you decided to get _really _close to her."

I laughed softly. She sounded so adorable at that moment I couldn't help it. It also made me surer as well as more confused about her feeling. "I can't see you, but I have a feeling you're cute when you're jealous, Mercer."

"It's not jealousy you're hearing, its disgust. You dated a girl you didn't even like just to get information out of her."

My laughter died as I sadly said my next words. "Trust me; a lot of my brothers have done much worse."

"So did The Eye tell you to get all Mata Hari on me too?"

The moment of truth or lies. I kept quiet for a while, carefully choosing my words then I told her part truth and part lies. First came the truth. "I was supposed to watch you, yeah. They thought it was weird that Atherton would send his own kid to Hecate, so we wanted to keep an eye on you. No pun intended."

And now the lies. "So yeah, you were part of the job. Don't get me wrong, Mercer, I like you. You're smart, fluent in sarcasm, and, Bad Dog incident aside, pretty kick-ass at magic. And it's not like you're hard to look at. But to answer your question, no part of the Archer Cross you knew at Hecate exists. That day in the cellar, I kissed you back because it was my job to stay close to you. If that's where you wanted to take things, then that's where I was going to go. I kissed you because I had to. Not exactly the

hardest assignment I've ever had, but an assignment nonetheless." My heart broke as I said the words, I didn't want to push her away but I had no choice and it hurt so much but she had to hear this version, it was better for her.

I could tell I had hurt her with what I said but there was also a different look in her eyes, almost as if she could tell I was lying.

"Okay, then. Yay for honesty. Now that we're done with the confessional part of

the evening, why don't you tell me why we're here."

I looked at her once again, debating whether or not to take back what I said but I stayed silent and started walking again. "Like I said, Hecate Hall has always made The Eye nervous."

"Why? Are they allergic to plaid?"

I loved her sarcasm; it felt good to hear it. "Think about it, Mercer. One place where Prodigium round up their most powerful members? Don't tell me that's not suspicious."

"Hecate isn't like that," she said weakly.

"Isn't it? Do some kind of illumination spell."

I saw her studying the area. I could feel the dark magic in the place and I knew she could feel it too.

"Now you see why I wanted to show you this," I said quietly. "Whoever is raising demons is doing it here. At Hecate."

"This is bad," was all I could manage to say.

"Yeah, I kind of picked up on that too."

"No, I mean really bad. Like, to a level I didn't know badness could reach."

I crouched down to look into her eyes. "It gets worse."

"What, does this pit also eat kittens? How much worse can it be?" She stared at the flat rock, blinking at the power radiating off the markings.

"Ever since I left Hex Hall, I've been looking into the history of the place. In the past eighteen years, six students have disappeared from the school."

"That's not that many. Have you ever been to a big human school, Cross? Some of those places lose six kids in, like, a week."

"Sophie, two of those kids were Anna and Chaston." This was serious and I needed her to understand so I used her first name. her knees gave out as she realized what I was saying, I wanted to get closer but there was more at stake now than what I wanted.

"After the attacks, they both vanished," Archer said.

"No," she said. "No, their parents came to get them."

I stood up and moved closer to her. "Did you ever see them?" I asked quietly. "Did any of us?" She was silent and I could see she was thinking hard about this whole mess.

"I visited their parents," I continued. "All four of them were under some heavy spells, Mercer. They were convinced their daughters were spending the summer at Hecate. Said they talk to them once a week. But none of our guys have been able to locate either Chaston or Anna anywhere."

"Okay, but that would mean…" I could see her struggling to say the words and my heart went out to her. "That would mean Mrs. Casnoff is in on it, and if that is the case, my dad would know something about it."

"Not necessarily," I said. "Hecate Hall and Graymalkin Island are completely Mrs. Casnoff's domain. Your dad signs off on all the kids who're sentenced here, but past that, he leaves it all to her."

She stood up and started pacing. "So you think Chaston and Anna were taken so they could be made into demons?"

"It seems to fit. Daisy and Nick are both teenagers; so was Alice back in the day. Maybe Mrs. Casnoff figured they'd be easier to turn because they'd already been up close and personal with the dark side."

"Why, though? Why would Mrs. Casnoff, of all people, be raising demons?"

"It might not be just her," I suggested. "After all, her sister works for the Council. Their father used to be the head. I think this goes way deeper than we can even guess."

"Cross, my dad thinks if he can catch the people who changed Nick and Daisy, he can get them to reverse it, and stop a war between The Eye and Prodigium. But if it's the Casnoffs who are doing this?"

I stood up, dusting my hands on my pants. "Yeah. As we've established, it's bad."

"So…why did you want to show me this? You guys could handle this on your own. Why risk getting kicked out of your He-Man Monster-Haters Club?"

"Because we _can't _handle this on our own. At least I don't think we can." And I want to help you and work with you I added silently in my head.

"You said yourself you already have some Prodigium working with you. Why not go to them?"

"We have a handful," I said, I was beginning to feel frustrated because there was so much I could not tell her yet so much was waiting to spill out. "And most of them suck. Look, just consider it a peace offering, okay? My way of saying I'm sorry for lying to you. And pulling a knife in your presence, even if it was just to open a damn window to get out before you vaporized me."

"Thanks," I replied. "But don't you want in on this?"

I looked at her, studying her as she studied me as well. "That's up to you," I said. I wanted her to say yes but at the same time I hoped she wouldn't. My feelings for her were already so strong, what would happen if they grew even stronger. I would have no control over myself then, as it is I was slowly losing more and more control standing here and talking to her.

"It's too much of a risk, Cross. Maybe one day when I'm head of the Council and you're…well, whatever you're going to be for L'Occhio di Dio, we

could work on some kind of collaboration." But for now, it's too dangerous."

My heart sank into the deepest pit of my stomach but I kept face was blank as I said, "Cool. Got it."

"Cross," she started to say, but then my eyes slid past her and went wide with horror. Crawling out of the crater behind her were ghastly creatures made of many human parts. I looked at Sophie and saw the horror on her face and remembered she knew nothing about this part of her world.

"Ghouls," I explained to her. "Reanimated human flesh, used as guardians. Seriously dark magic. Someone obviously didn't want us finding—"

"Oh my God, less talking, more stabbing, please." Her voice was squeaky with fear and as she turned to look at me I saw how afraid she really was and that made me want to protect her from all harm she ever came across in her entire lifetime but this was something only she could do, I didn't have the power to do it.

I already had the sword in my hand, and I was crouching slightly. "I can slow them down, but ghouls can't be killed by blades. You're the one who has to stop them."

"Come again?" she squeaked.

"You're a necromancer," I said. "They're dead."

"I don't know what to do," she sounded panicky and I had to do something to slow them down.

"Well, think of something fast," I replied. Then I raced off into the midst of the ghouls to fight them off and keep her safe until she figured something out. I would die if I had to, as long as I knew she was safe a little longer. I caught one of the ghouls under the chin with the point of my blade, but there was no blood. The thing stopped moving, but it didn't fall. Instead, it swept a hand at me; I ducked and swung again,

piercing the side of the second ghoul. This time, a thick black substance poured from the wound. I kept stabbing at them but they didn't seem to feel any pain and their anger was getting worse as I ducked and dived and they couldn't catch me.

I was giving out the best that I had learned with the eye but nothing seemed to be working. Sophie looked as if she were thinking hard about what to do but nothing came yet and only she could save us. If I died tonight, I wouldn't want that beautiful face to be covered with the fear I had seen just now to be the last image I saw. I wanted to see her smiling face last.

I suddenly felt a sharp tug on my head and winced in pain as one of the ghouls caught a hold of my hair and pulled. Now I was in trouble and so was she. "Could we start with the necromancing now?" I shouted at her, hoping to get some reaction.

"Let him go!" she commanded. Unfortunately that wasn't what she had to do. The ghouls got startled and the one holding on to me pulled back harder making me almost scream from the force of it.

"Think, Sophie," I heard her say. I was starting to panic now but I had full faith in her. The ghoul was strangling me now and I needed her help.

"Yeah, please do that," I replied, panicking as my air supply was being cut off by the filthy creature. I love you Sophie, I muttered in my head, unable to say it out loud and now I may never get a chance to say it. Then I heard her voice, "Release him," she said again, quietly this time.

I could feel her power as the ghoul dropped me to turn and stare at her, under her command. I got up slowly and went to stand next to her, wanting to take her into my arms so desperately, especially after this.

"What do I do now?" she asked. There was so much she didn't know, so much I wanted to teach her.

"You can put them back," I said quietly. "Or you could let them go."

"What, like set them free to roam around the island? I don't think so."

I shook my head, it was difficult to breathe after the incident and also getting harder because I knew our time together was almost up. "No, draw the magic out of them and let them be dead. Really dead."

"Okay," she said, sounding scared and confident at the same time. That was what I truly loved about her, her bravery. The ghouls slumped to the ground. She stared at them and said, "They look kind of pitiful."

I snorted, "Forgive me for not feeling too sympathetic, Mercer."

We suddenly became aware of something bobbing in the distance. A light.

She extinguished the blue orb. We moved quickly to hide in the shelter of the trees and quickly walked away from the place. Being extremely quiet and cautious until we reached the beach, then we started running.

I braced his hands on his knees, out of breath, leaning over and taking deep breaths. "I never thought I'd have to make that run again," I said feeling a sense of déjà vu.

"You used the Itineris to get off Graymalkin," she said, I nodded and pulled the necklace out of my bag and placed it around our necks again. "You ready?" I asked, holding onto her hands and feeling her warmth spread through me again.

"As I'll ever be," she muttered before we stepped into the doorway.

When we reached the end of our journey I felt tired but more than that, I felt incredibly sad and depressed. This was the end for us, I would never see her again and she would never know that she was the only one who knew the real Archer Cross, the only one who made me feel. She would never know that she is the love of my life and there could never be anyone else for me, I would never feel all this for anyone but her. I could feel the burning in my throat from the tears that wanted to spill out but I held back, I couldn't help my hands from shaking as I took the chain of us though.

Even thugh she was covered in dirt, she still looked so amazing to me as the light set in, I could have stared at her forever.

"Well," I said at last, my voice slightly hoarse as I struggled to keep my emotions in. "That was the worst first date I've ever been on." Then we started laughing, her laugh was like music to my ears, the beauty of it encasing me in a warm glow, willing me to stay with her forever and to keep that smile and happiness on her face but then I realized she was better off without me and I stopped laughing. Not sure what to do but feeling a mixture of emotions.

"I need to get back," she said.

"Right," I replied. "So this is it. We're done."

"Yeah," she said, she sounded as if she wanted to cry. "And I have to say, the world's first and last Eye-demon reconnaissance mission went pretty well." I made myself look into her eyes memorizing them for my memories and feeling as if I should say something more. "Thank you." It was so sincere and so true the way she said it.

I shrugged; my heart began to flutter as I thought about everything about her. "We were a good team."

"We were. Anyway, I should go. See ya, Cross." She let out what I thought was a sob. "Except I won't, will I? So I guess I should say goodbye. Okay, well, best of luck

with the whole Eye thing, then. Try not to kill anyone I know."

My soul was shattering as she said the words and I realized just how true this love really was. I can't live without her, I would never be able to after all the moments we spent together, after all the love we shared. I couldn't let her go, there had to be something more for us. She turned away, but I reached out and caught her wrist.

She had to know the truth. "Mercer, that day in the cellar…" I searched her face longingly, hoping against all hope that she wanted this too, "I didn't kiss you back because I had to. I kissed you because I wanted to." I looked at her lips remembering how it has felt the last time they touched mine. "I still want to," I said quietly. Then I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. I dropped the sword and put my hand behind her neck. This was what was true, this was what was real. I could feel her kiss reaching into my soul, joining me to her so completely and truly as if nothing else mattered.

As the kiss deepened, we held each other tighter, I could feel her heartbeat against mine, pounding in harmony. I couldn't ever leave her; she is my life and always will be. And I am hers and always will be.

"Oh, Mercer," I murmured basking in the glorious feeling of her in my arms, "we are so screwed."

She pressed her face against my neck. "I know."

"So what do we do?"

"If we were good people, we'd never see each other again." She tried to move away from me but I wasn't ready to let her go yet and pulled her back.

"Okay, well, that's not happening. Plan B?"

She smiled that gorgeous smile at me and I fell more in love with her just looking at that smile. "I don't have one. You?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. But…look. I've spent basically my whole life pretending to be someone I'm not, faking some feelings, hiding others."Reaching down, I clasped my hand and lifted it so that our joined hands were trapped between our chests. "This thing with us is the only real thing I've had in a long time. _You're _the only real thing."I raised our hands and kissed her knuckles, feeling so good to finally tell her the truth. "And I'm done pretending I don't want you."

"Wow, Cross. I think you missed your calling. Screw demon hunting: you should clearly be writing Hallmark cards." She still had that gorgeous smile on and I felt myself start smiling too. "Shut up," I muttered before lowering my head and kissing her again.

"Why is it," she said when we broke apart again, "that we're always kissing in gross, dirty places like cellars and abandoned mills?"

I laughed, pressing kisses to her jaw and neck, loving the way her skin felt against my lips. "Next time it'll be a castle, I promise. This is England, after all. Can't be too hard to find one."

We didn't talk for a long time after that, and when we finally managed to break apart, the light in the mill was slightly brighter.

"I have to go," she said, resting her head against my chest. Suddenly she lifted her head and pulled at my t shirt to see my tattoo. She put her hand on it and our eyes met. "It doesn't burn this time," she whispered.

The feel of her magic and her skin was making mine burn this time. "Beg to differ, Mercer."

I pulled her hand of my chest and put them on her shoulders pushing her away slightly. "Okay," I said, closing my eyes. "If you don't go now, we're…You should go

now."

Once we were several feet apart, the lust-fog cleared a little. "We still have no idea what we're going to do." She said it with a slight air of amusement.

I opened my eyes and took a couple of steps backward. "Right now, you're going to go back to Thorne and check in with your dad. I'm going to go back to my people and do the same. Then tomorrow night, we'll meet here. You'll stand over there"—i pointed at a corner—"and I'll stand over _there_"—the complete opposite corner—"and there will be no physical contact until we've figured something out. Deal?"

"Deal. Midnight?" she smiled at me and I grinned back at her.

"Perfect. So. See ya, Mercer."

"See ya, Cross." I smiled as I turned and walked away. We were definitely screwed but we were together, there was no more pretending to be done with her now that she knew how I really felt about her.


End file.
